Malvinder Singh steps down as Ranbaxy chief executive

New Delhi, May 24 (IANS) Malvinder Mohan Singh has stepped down as chairman, managing director and chief executive of India’s largest pharmaceuticals company, Ranbaxy Laboratories, which was acquired last year by Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo. Atul Sobti, the current chief operating officer, has been appointed as chief executive and managing director, while Tsutomu Une, the company’s non-executive director, will now serve as its chairman, a company statement said.

“We very much appreciate the efforts of the Singh family, which grew Ranbaxy from a small, local Indian company to the large multi-national company it has become today,” said Takashi Shoda, a director at Ranbaxy and the chief executive of Daiichi Sankyo.

Malvinder Singh said he was stepping down as the acquisition of his company was complete. “It was a difficult decision to separate from Ranbaxy,” he said, adding: “But it was the right time for me to do so.”

Daiichi Sankyo owns 63.92 percent in Ranbaxy, which has customers in 125 countries, an expanding international portfolio of affiliates, joint ventures and alliances in 49 countries and manufacturing operations in 11 countries.

The change in management at the company comes at a time when it has reported a net loss of Rs.1,044.8 crore ($204 million) for 2008 against a net profit of Rs.617.7 crore in the previous year.

The company has also been in trouble with the US Food and Drug Administration over alleged falsification of test results in approved and pending drug applications.